Fuel atomizing device



1965 E. w. ALMQUIST 3,164,451

FUEL ATOMIZING DEVICE Filed Oct. 12, 1961 IN VENTOR -ED GAR w. ALMQUI TUnited States Patent r 3,164,451 FUEL ATOMIZING DEVICE Edgar W.Airnquist, Alrnquist Engineering (10.,

Mitford, Pa. Filed Oct. 12, 1961, Ser. No. 144,693 1 Claim. (Cl. td-180)V This invention relates to a device for improving the efficiency, andperformance, of an internal combustion engine.

One object of the invention is to produce an improved device of the typeset forth.

Other things being equal, incomplete atomization results in inefiicientcombustion.

It is therefore a still furthe-r object to produce an improved atomizingdevice.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary and diagrammatic plan view showing theapplication of my improved fuel mixture atomizing device to the manifoldof an internal combustion engine employing a dual carburetor.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 22 onFIG. 1. and including a diagrammatic representation of the carburetorwhich is omitted from FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view looking in the direction of line 33 on FIG.1.

In the drawings, I show a plate 10 adapted to be interposed between thebottom of the carburetor 12 and the top of the manifold 14, as bestshown in FIG. 2. In the drawings, a dual carburetor is shown andtherefore plate 10 is provided with two openings 16, which register withthe throats 18 and 19 of the carburetor and the manifold, respectively.Plate It) is also provided with a passage 29 which leads from outside ofthe carburetor to each of openings 16 for the purpose hereinafter setforth.

In order to vary the air intake with the temperature of the engine, Iprovide a tube 26, one end of which is provided with a nipple 27 whichenters passage 20 and the other end of which leads to one end of acasing 28.

The interior of casing 28 is hollow and houses a tube 30 to one end ofwhich tube 26 is connected, as at 32, and the other end of whichprovides a seat 34 for a ball valve 35. Ball valve 36 is biased,downwardly, as viewed in FIG. 1, by a spring 33, and it is biased in theopposite direction by spring 40. Preferably, the upper end of spring 40passes through the ball valve, as at 39. The other end of casing 28 isprovided with a chamber 42 which opens to the atmosphere through screen44. The connection between chamber 42 and the interior of casing 28 iscontrolled by thermostat 46 and, in the preferred embodiment, themovement of spring 38, in ball valve unseating direction, is augmentedby thermostat 48, provided the rated temperature has been reached.

It will be understood that the springs and thermostats are so calibratedthat, taken alone, spring 38 is heavier and stronger than spring 44);that under the vacuum prevailing during idling, or cold starting (of theorder of 12 to 21"), the combined force of suction and of spring 40 isgreater than the force of spring 38, and that thermostats 46 and 4% arecalibrated to move in response to predetermined temperature conditions.

To insure a minimum of air intake under all conditions, I provide ballvalve 36, or its seat 34, with one, or more, slots 50 which, when onlythermostat 46 moves in opening direction, will allow some air to reachthe carburetor, even when ball 36 is seated infully closing position.Slots are preferably spiral so as to give the entering air a swirlingmotion which helps keep the air passage clean.

The operation of the structure described is as follows:

Before starting up and with the engine cold, thermostat 46 is in closingposition, thermostat 48 is contracted and has no effect on spring 38.When the engine is started up, the vacuum in the intake manifoldcombines with the force of spring 40 to seat ball valve 36 against theaction of spring 38 to reduce the air intake to that permitted by theconventional air valve, not shown, which forms part of the conventionalcarburetor. As the engine warms up, thermostat 45 opens and permits airto enter casing 23 and to pass through slots 59, thus moderatelyincreasing the air intake. As the suction in the intake manifolddecreases, spring 38 overcomes spring 40 and unseats ball valve 36,further to increase the air intake which, as noted, is given a swirlingaction by slots 59. In the event that, for any reason, spring 38 failsto unseat ball valve 36, I provide thermostat 48 which, acting inresponse to increased temperature, pushes spring 38 downwardly, asviewed in FIG. 1, to unseat ball valve 36.

In order to improve the atomization of the air-fuel mixture, openings 16are made smaller than throats 18 and 19 and the rims of these openingsare serrated as at 60. Also, outwardly of the serrated edge of theopenings I provide a trough 52 and a downwardly inclined gutter 54 whichcarries .a pin 56 on which is freely rotatable a fan 58. By thisarrangement, any unvaporized fuel tends to collect in trough 52 fromwhich it flows down gutter 54 onto rotating blades of fan 58. Any fueloverflowing trough 52 will flow onto serrations 60 which scatter thefuel and accelerate evaporation thereof by the downwardly moving streamof air.

It will thus be seen that, by the provision of ball valve 36,thermostats 46 and 48 and springs 38 and 40, the air intake is increasedas the engine warms up independently of the rate of flow of the fuelinjected, thus improving combustion, and econ omizing on fuel, and that,by the provision of trough 52 and serrated ring 60, and by locatingrotating fan blades below the throat 18 of the carburetor, theatomization of the fuel is improved, thus further improving combustionand, hence, the efficiency. Since, when the engine is first started upthermostat 46 is in closing position, nothing can reach the carburetorthrough passage 20 and there will be no interference in the mixture asset for starting. As the engine warms up, and thermostat 46 begins toopen, additional air begins to flow into the carburetor, first throughgroove 50 and later through passage 30 itself as ball valve 36 isunseated. The increased air flow corrects over-rich mixtures andcompensates for high under-hood temperatures.

According to my invention, hose 26 is made flexible enough and longenough to permit location of casing 28, which contains the valve and thethermostats, at any desired strategic position. For example, to delayopening of thermostat 46, casing 28 will be placed in a relatively coolplace, such as outside the hood, and vice versa. This is not true wherethe thermostat is fixedly placed in the carburetor or in the manifold,or close thereto.

"What I claim is:

An atomizing device for a combustion engine of the type which includes acarbuertor having a discharge throat and a manifold having an intakethroat,

said discharge throat and said intake throat constituting a continuouspassage,

said device including:

a plate clamped between said carburetor and said manifold and having anopening formed therein smaller than said intake throat,

the rim of said opening being serrated,

an annular trough formed in the upper surface of said plate andsurrounding said rim,

a downwardly inclined gutter carried by said plate and extending intosaid intake throat, and

freely rotatable fan blades carried by the lower end of said gutter.and'rotatable by the flow of atomized fuel downwardly through saidintake throat,

the upper end of said gutter communicating with said trough toeonduct'liquid fuel from said trough to said blades.

" Rogers 4818O Kummerer 48l80 Harnrock et al. 4818O Church 123124Scarozza 48--180 Kratzer 123-124 Hutchinson 48218() Falzone 48-180 Beck48180 Palzone 48-180 Cadclock 48-180 MORRIS O. WOLK, Primary Examiner.

GEORGE D. MITCHELL, Examiner.

